Red Zone Marketing's Blog

Social Media: Now what should I be doing?

You’ve spent the time and effort to get your social media sites developed, now what?

The premise of social media is to present something of value to others in your social network. Valuable content is defined as something that others:

•    Find interesting or informative
•    Deem worthy to take the time to read or view
•    Want more of and thus will follow you to see what’s next
•    Will pass along for others to see

So where does all of this great, valuable content come from? Do you have to be a prolific writer or hire someone that is? And how difficult will it be to get content through compliance? The good news is that there are solutions to the continual release of valuable content.

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The Service Dilemma for Small, Boutique Firms

When I call my favorite airlines, if I don’t get the answer I was hoping for or am having trouble getting the person to understand my request, I don’t continue trying with the same person. I politely end the call and redial to get someone else. More often than not I am able to get closer to what I am requesting by taking this action. It is a hidden benefit of working with a large firm.

The problem with a small company is that there is no one else to call - except another company. And if you think people do this, but certainly not to your company - I ask you to reconsider. Loyalty is harder than ever to come by and even harder to maintain. People have so many options and there is so much noise. Not having the skill set to help a client is one thing. Not having the ability to listen and service a client is unacceptable for a small firm. Some of the most powerful perceived benefits of working with a small firm are the lack of inflexible bureaucracy and the higher level of understanding and personal service.

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2 Myths and 1 Absolute for Making Your Employees Better

Motivating and getting your staff to be as good as, or better than you, is an ongoing challenge. And, although I am not the perfect boss, I have certainly learned some truths over the past 15 years with both my own employees and through consulting on the inner workings of high producing financial services firms. In financial services, the employees often deal directly with clients and prospective clients. Their interactions are critical to the success of the organization. Here are 2 myths and one absolute for creating a better more aligned staff:

Pay them at or above industry standard and they will be great employees: MYTH

Empower them to make decisions and they will be focused on proactively serving as if it were their own company: MYTH

These two above will always be myths and will NEVER work unless they… BELIEVE in you and the firm: ABSOLUTE

Employees that are charged with interacting with prospects or clients need to believe in the mission and direction of the firm and, moreover, they really need to like the people they are working for. If they don’t, it is physically impossible to give what others who do believe will be able to give and accomplish.

However, simply sharing the mission and having employees memorize it doesn’t get them to believe it. One firm I worked with thought the solution was to have their 20 employees chant the mission every Monday morning (they were trying to emulate Walmart). The actual impact of this ritual resulted in the staff rejecting the mission and calling in sick on Monday’s.

So, how do you get your employees to “believe” in what you are doing? Here are 3 fairly simple strategies that I’ve seen work at productive, well-aligned firms:

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Does Your Staff Take Immediate Action?

It used to be that if you asked someone to do something, it got done immediately. In the “old days” your employees listened and acted exactly as you said. That’s how they kept their job. But today, because of the swarm of communication that happens in a day - directives, projects, initiatives, emails, face-to-face conversations and instant messages – it isn’t easy for an employee to intake all the details, especially verbally, and then prioritize them correctly and get them done right with one request. Even if you think you are crystal clear.

Some of it is their fault and some is yours as the boss. Today, if you assume that one conversation will bring the exact action you want, it will often lead to damage control, crisis or just high levels of frustration when it doesn’t happen just as you wanted.

A Harvard Business Review article, “Effective Managers Say The Same Thing Twice (or More)” makes an interesting assertion. According to research, the key in getting things done is not just in clarity of message (as I certainly assumed). Getting things done, according to the article and research, requires making your presence felt by staying top of mind. How? Redundancy...

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Adding A Simple Referral System Into Your Business

Positive word of mouth is one of the most coveted outcomes of great products and service. It is also possibly the best thing that can happen to any business. A good reputation (that people are talking about) generates referrals -- which are often the most profitable leads that a business can receive. Clients acquired through referrals are more loyal, easier to close, more cost efficient; and in turn are often the ones to give you even more referrals.             

Consumers today trust a personal recommendation over traditional advertising, brochure, website, or other company communications. According to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States is influenced by shared opinions about a product, brand or service. Yet according to eMarketer -- a leading website on digital marketing and media research and analysis -- only 18% of businesses have a referral program in place.

While most of us inherently understand the benefits of having our clients refer their friends, family, and colleagues, we simply fail to actively make it part of our marketing plan – and realize that earning and acquiring referrals requires a systematic approach.  Here are 3 simple ideas to add a referral system to your business:

1. Put “Referrals” on your meeting agenda so you don’t forget to address them – even just briefly in your client meetings.
2. Answer the question, “Who Cares?” When you describe your firm, make sure you’re talking in benefits, not offering a laundry list of services. Benefits affect people. Your proposed and perceived benefits will be what is remembered and passed along.
3. Schedule a referral appreciation event. This is an event only for those who have already introduced you to others during a specified period of time (Don’t Miss The Boat). It is in stark contrast to the often ineffective client appreciation events where you hope your clients will bring a friend and often don’t.

The key is focus. Anything you focus on actively in your business will certainly have more results than if you didn’t!

Promises to Clients You Can’t Keep

Did you ever make a big promise you can’t keep? Oftentimes there is a disconnect separating what we commit to do and what we actually can deliver.  And not delivering on a promise is far worse than never committing to do something in the first place.

At a hotel this week I was offered 3 things at check in. It was midnight and I was tired, but I did answer the questions of the employee at registration. First he asked me if I wanted a USA Today newspaper in the morning. I said that I would. Then he asked if I’d like any other newspapers.  I said that one is fine. Next he told me that with my reservation, wireless internet would be free. He explained how I would be able to log on and asked me if I understood. I said that I did. Finally, he asked me if I wanted to be a part of the hotel’s “Green Program” where you can decline housekeeping service in return for points in the hotel rewards program. There were a few other options in the program, but I told him that I would just take the points. Frankly, I knew I’d be on the phone for most of the morning with clients so I didn’t want housekeeping.

The next morning things started getting weird. First, I tried to access the Internet but my mobile broadband did not have good reception. I remembered the free internet offer, but when I tried to log on the computer said I wasn’t a registered guest. So I called the front desk and they referred me to the help desk where I was on hold for nearly 10 minutes and finally had to purchase the service which they said they would take off my bill. Then I opened the door to get my newspaper. Every other door down the hall had newspapers – but not mine. Finally, I was on the phone with clients and 3 times housekeeping came knocking to service the room. I thought, perhaps I was not really there! I called to the front desk to find out if I was in fact checked in (not joking). They looked up my reservation and yes, everything was just fine. Yes, fine except for all the things I really didn’t want or truly need that they in the end didn’t deliver on.

I work with a midsize firm that made a promise to their clients to answer every phone call on the first or second ring with a live person. When they began to get busier they couldn’t keep up with the promise so they hired a second receptionist. Today they often have 3 people sitting at a large front desk answering the phones. Now that’s a commitment that few would follow through on.

Can you keep your promises – even those you made years ago to your clients, your staff, your vendors? How about yourself? My friend Wendi Kelly, an author and superb business coach, shared with me that if you don’t keep promises to yourself, will you honestly keep them for others? She’s right! Here’s a link to a powerful blog she wrote on this very topic: http://lifeslittleinspirations.com/a-promise-to-my-heart 

Promises, promises…

Guest Blog: Better Service Equals Better Referrals

Guest Blog from Bill Cates, President of Referral Coach International

Know Your Competition

When you know your competition well, it not only gives you a selling advantage early on, but also continues to help you serve and sell to your client throughout the relationship. You should always serve your clients with the knowledge that they are your competitors’ prospects.

Do you know what pressures your clients are under to move their business? Do you know what they say to all those other financial professionals who call them? If you don't, I suggest you get to know your clients better and find out. The more you know about your competition, the more you can do to make sure you are better than they are.

Your clients may not use you for all their financial needs. Do you know who else they are using and why? Do you know what they like and dislike about them? Not only will you learn from this, you may also find opportunities to increase your percentage of the business they do with you.

Get to Know Your Clients Better

Whenever possible, get to know your clients beyond what brought you together in the first place. Form business friendships with as many clients as you can. Get to know them as people. Take a genuine interest in them. Not every client wants you to do this, but most will appreciate it.

The clients who give me the best referrals and continue to give me referrals long after I've served them are those I now count as business friends. If your attitude is strictly business, you are probably missing tons of opportunities for referrals, not to mention more business from your existing clients.

Bottom line - creating business friendships increases client loyalty and enhances your referability.

Survey Your Clients – Over the Phone

You should be constantly asking your clients, "How am I doing?" "If we could do one thing better, what would it be?" And you should be asking these questions over the phone – not in writing. Here are 6 reasons to conduct your client surveys over the phone:

• You obtain more useful information – it’s easier to talk than it is to write.
• You demonstrate how much you care about serving them well.
• You obtain more honest information – it’s easier to “open up” over the phone than in person.
• Your response rate will be much higher – close to 100 percent.
• This is another personal contact with your clients.
• You can communicate feelings and intentions much better in a conversation than you can in writing.

Sometimes the Little Things Are the Big Things

- Serve them by giving referrals. If they have a need, financial or otherwise, and you’re not the right person to serve them, connect them with someone who can. Follow up to make sure your referral has “gone through.”

- Don’t just be there for them from 9 to 5. Handwrite your cell phone number on your business card as you give it to them. They’ll likely never use it unless they really need to, but it reassures them.

- Keep your word. Doing what you're supposed to do, when you are supposed to do it, is the very minimum required to provide good client service and get referrals.

- When something goes wrong and it will, apologize. When you apologize, you’re not admitting fault, you’re just sorry they are being inconvenienced. It reduces tension because it demonstrates you are there for them. (Almost no one in business ever says they're sorry.) Then, immediately after you apologize, fix the problem as quickly as possible. Even if it’s too late to fix the problem, they’ll feel better if you really listen to them.

- Set high service standards for yourself and your firm, and tell your clients about them.

- If a clients stops doing business with you, don’t burn the bridge. Go out of your way to make them feel comfortable about coming back.

- Say “thank you” every time you get the chance.

Want to learn more? Sign up for Bill Cates & Maribeth Kuzmeski's 2011 Client Acquisition Boot Camp. Register today and save $100!

Are you a good boss?

Are you a good boss? Really? I know when I ask myself that question, I come to the conclusion that I could be better.

So what makes a good boss, and how can we get better?  In the January/February issue of Harvard Business Review an article on becoming a great boss offers research and some key tips for improving as a boss.

A good boss is typically influential. But where does the influence come from? Fear? Likability? Actually, true sustainable influence seems to be rooted in trust. Your employees may be listening to every word you say and how you say it. They are looking to confirm or deny their trust and belief in you.

Trust is developed through evidence of your competence and their belief in your character.

In order to keep “training” your leadership skills, here are a few tips...

1. Prepare for opportunities to learn and develop as a manager. For instance, delegate more and test the response, results and detail what you learned.

2. Communicate openly and often. The goal isn’t to become best friends with your staff. On the other hand, focusing on business only and not the person will probably not produce the desired result - influence based on trust. Quantify the individual and personal interactions you are having.

3. Review your actions at the end of every day. Are you influential? Rate yourself.
Some days will be better than others as a boss, but if we keep the focus on getting better, not being perfect, we are headed in the right direction. 

Many years ago I worked for an individual who was so far on the side of being a bad boss that he believed he actually was a great boss. His staff did not respect him, his best employees kept leaving, and their departures surprised him every time. Ultimately, he was out of touch. And unfortunately, it can be easy to get out of touch if we stop trying to get better. I know I’m trying.

Unconditional Fans

Win or lose, true fans don’t stop cheering for their team. Unconditional fans cheer for their favorite team to win again and again, to move closer and closer to their goals (beating a rival, clinching a series, winning a championship, etc). When our team is losing, we figure out ways to cheer for them some more (rally caps on!). And when they pull through, we share in their success, feeling like winners ourselves because we had our allegiance in the right spot.
 
It is the same for true fans of your business. A fan of yours WANTS you to win. They cheer you on, want to help you, and are proactive in their support. We all have fans that we are grateful for, but the question is -- how can we get more fans? I’d venture to say that all of us could use a few more no matter how many unconditional fans we have.
 
Why does someone become a fan? Being a true fan is more about a feeling than about the tangible products we sell. Observation of successful firms has shown that perhaps the best way to get this loyalty may be through the little things, not the extravagant ones. Listening more than talking, more face-to-face with our best clients, and truly making them feel important. Intangibles.

Measure it! How are you doing? How many clients do you have that are loyal? How many unconditional fans? Maybe 2011 could be the year of the fan – your fans!
 
I have been a Packer fan forever. I’ve seen them in terrible years (remember the 1970’s and early 80’s?) but I never stopped cheering. I’m a fan and would be even if they lost last Sunday to the rival Bears. And it’s a sure bet that I’ll be cheering like wild on February 6 in Dallas. Now if I only had tickets…

Cultivating Relationships NOT Worth the Time?

Proactively cultivating relationships is often an afterthought. We are just too busy trying to get through the workload directly in front of us. And, relationships are not what we DO in our businesses, right? Most firms are not in the “relationship business.”  You are in the [INSERT your core offering] business. Simply spoken: We need sales, not more friends!

STOP RIGHT THERE!! Above is an excuse that we often create (myself included), subconsciously or consciously, for not finding the time to do one of the most important things directly affecting growth and profitability. 

Intuitively we know that relationships are important, but let’s just focus on the logical. When you look back on your sales from last year, evaluate the “why” when thinking about your best clients and your biggest sales. Quantify the value of the referrals you received, the word of mouth, and repeat business. When you add it all up, you may notice that the way others “feel” about you is critically important. They certainly would not go out of their way to do business with you or talk about you with others just because of your product or service offering.  There are probably many others who can do or provide the same offerings.

There's often a direct correlation between the quality of your relationships with prospects and clients, and the rate of sales and growth in your business. The question is, what will you do about this in 2011? How about you reach out to 1 person each day above and beyond your regular work. It may just make the tipping point difference.